“Patay na yung mga corals or there’s only quite a
few of them left.” Thus declared marine biologistEdwin D. Garchitorena, Ph.D. He is studying
ways to rehabilitate ailing coral reefs.

Dr. Garchitorena proposes the following ways to save
our coral reefs:

1. Transplant
living coral on dead and dying reefs.

2. Restock
the dead or dying reefs with giant clams.

3. Educate
the local communities to take care of giant clams.

The giant clam is a flagship species. Its presence
in a reef means the reef is healthy and other organisms will survive there as
well. Corals will return to life and fish will come back to feed in a healthy
reef.

“As the corals grow and the giant clams grow, they
will then provide shelter for a lot of organisms,” Dr. Garchitorena says.
Ultimately, this will increase the fish catch, a very important food resource
for Filipinos.ê